


The Gardenias and Gillyflowers Sing a Bittersweet Melody

by Aidoru_trash



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Angst, F/F, adult au, aqours wasn't a thing in this one, love live, sad woob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 03:24:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14559786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aidoru_trash/pseuds/Aidoru_trash
Summary: Ruby becomes infatuated with a beautiful pianist, but can't bring herself to speak to her until it's too late.





	The Gardenias and Gillyflowers Sing a Bittersweet Melody

**Author's Note:**

> Hi read the lyrics to Red Gem Wink I think you'll see some correlation ;)

Yoshiko (Yohane): So what’s the deal today?  Back at that lounge again?

 

Me:  Yup!

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  You really could use a change of scenery you know?

 

Me:  But this lounge...it’s comfortable and familiar

 

Me:  It’s nice

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  I guess… Anyways, what’s up?

 

A redhead sat alone in a booth at a local lounge in Uchiura, rapidly typing and firing off messages.  Not a particularly busy or empty lounge, but the kind where there always seems to be the same amount of people in it at any given time.  Perfect for a woman like Ruby Kurosawa. 

 

A self described “functional recluse”, Ruby didn’t have any “real” friends so to speak.  At work, she only had acquaintances. Beyond that, the only person she considered a friend was a certain individual named Yoshiko (though preferred to be called Yohane) who she met online through a thread about idols.  

 

Me: Mmm not much!  Work was work...How about you?  How’s the live streaming?

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  I...lost two subscribers :(

 

Me:  Aww Yohane, it’s okayyy.  You’ll get ‘em back and then some!

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Thanks, Ruby…

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Hey on an unrelated note...You work at a flower shop, right? 

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Ruby?

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Hellooooooo?

 

The redhead’s attention had been guided away from her phone screen by beautiful sounds that suddenly filled the room.  

 

A piano that sat in a large open space in the lounge collecting dust was being played for once.  Not only was the playing gorgeous, but so was the woman playing it. 

 

Long, burgundy hair draped her shoulders and delicate frame.  Slender, but noticeably toned arms were level with the keys as she played a heart warming sonata.  

 

Unable to see the woman’s face from where she sat, Ruby got up and walked to another empty booth that gave her a clear line of sight to the pianist’s downcast eyes.  

 

Ruby’s breath was taken away.  Her senses were overloaded with beauty both from the music gracing her ears and from beauty that graced her eyes.  Ruby was awestruck as she took note of the piano player’s amber eyes and perfect facial features. The timbre of the sonata seemed to complement the warmth that radiated from the alluring face that sat several feet away from Ruby.

 

Only when Ruby’s phone vibrated with the fourteenth text message notification did she realize she had completely forgotten to respond to Yoshiko.  

Yoshiko (Yohane): ARE YOU DEAD????

 

Me:  OH MY GOSH I’M SO SORRY I GOT DISTRACTED I’M ALIVE I’M ALIVE!

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Wh

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  What distracted you?  Not to be mean but like…

 

Me:  What?

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Eh nevermind

 

Me:  No what is it?  I’m confused lol

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Well… I mean aren’t you like...by yourself...always

 

Me:  Well yeah 

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Sooooo...what happened?

 

Me:  Oh uh, well you see there’s always been this piano at the lounge and 

 

Me:  I guess the owners finally decided to hire a pianist to play it

 

Me:  And she’s beautiful

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  HUH

 

Me:  IT*** !!! 

 

Me:  IT’S BEAUTIFUL!! LIKE THE MUSIC 

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):   R U SURE

 

Me:  YES YES I’M SURE 

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  I can feel the heat from your cheeks through the phone...liar

 

Me:  WHAAAAAAA

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  So you gonna ask her out or what?

 

Me:  STOP

 

Of course Ruby had told Yoshiko about her social anxiety and how she feels like she’s riding a death-trap roller coaster most times when having a conversation with someone in person, but it didn’t stop Yoshiko from encouraging Ruby to step out of her comfort zone every once in a while. 

 

Me:  You know I can’t do that kind of thing easily...

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  I’m kiddinnggg

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Or am I? Huhuhuhu...

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  So anyways about the flowers

 

…

 

The next day met a familiar scene.  Ruby alone in a booth at the lounge with phone in hand and her usual half strong mimosa on the table in front of her.  Everything was the same, yet Ruby felt different today. Nervous almost. She couldn’t shake the image of the redheaded beauty from last night from her mind.  Between texts to Yoshiko, Ruby would look up and scan the lounge for the piano player in the hopes that she would be there again to perform. 

 

Surely enough, after thirty minutes of texting, sipping, and scanning, the woman walked through the front door of the lounge.  She wore a floor length, flowing, pink dress that mimicked her long hair as she made her way to the piano. Ruby’s heart swelled as her head unconsciously tracked the woman from door to piano where the lounge owner greeted her.  

 

Being a regular at the lounge, Ruby was somewhat familiar with the owner and was able to interact with him without too much strain on her mental state.  She figured she could ask him the name of the pianist. At least that would give her a name to put to that gorgeous, gorgeous face.

 

As he was making his rounds, Ruby timidly and awkwardly managed to wave down the owner.  

 

“Ah, Ruby!  Would you like another mimosa?” He asked, beaming at the redhead.  This guy was the literal embodiment of the phrase “service with a smile”.  Yet, somehow, he managed to make his overly nice work mode attitude come off as completely genuine.  

 

“Uh, no thanks, Akito.  I actually wanted to ask for something else,”  Ruby stated, clutching her phone unusually hard, as if trying to extract strength from Yoshiko via satellite waves.  

 

“Just the orange juice?”  Akito guessed, hoping to be right.

 

“Er, not a drink,”  Ruby said quickly.

 

“Oh?  What is it?”  The middle aged man ask leaning in a little closer with intrigue.  

 

“Uh...The uh, piano player!  What’s...I was wondering what her name is!”  Ruby finally managed to spit out.

 

“Oh! Her?”  Akito sprung back to his normal, upright, but relaxed posture, “That’s Riko Sakurauchi.  She’s pretty well known in Tokyo you know?”

 

“Oh!  Thanks.”  Ruby said mindlessly as her eyes drifted back to Riko.  

 

“Well, if you need anything else, just let me know!” Akito quickly saluted Ruby before moving on to check on the other tables.  

 

Another text from Yoshiko brought Ruby back into reality.

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  You’re dead aren’t you.

 

Me:  SORRY I WAS UH

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Drooling over piano girl again?

 

Me:  NO

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Or were you

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Actually talking to her? Owo

 

Me:  What is that face

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Just

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Please answer the question

 

Me:  I uh…

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Hmm?

 

Ruby had a thought.  Played with it for a moment.  Then followed through with it.

 

Me:  I actually did!

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  W

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Wait you WHAT

 

Me:  I talked to her!  I asked her name and where she’s from!  I even complimented her piano playing!

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  No. You’re lying

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Where’s she from then?

 

Me:  Tokyo! :D

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  That’s super generic you could be making that up

 

Me:  I’m not!  She pretty well known in Tokyo apparently.  You might actually find something if you look her up!  Her name’s Riko Sakurauchi

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Riko Sakurauchi...Freelance classical and jazz pianist from Tokyo

 

Yoshiko (Yohane): I’m sorry I ever doubted you

 

Ruby was sorry too, but for other reasons.

 

…

  
  


Each day at the lounge followed a similar pattern.  Ruby would sit alone at her booth, staring helplessly at the beautiful pianist as she played her set.  Then she would message Yoshiko, filling her in on her conversations with Riko. 

 

Except those conversations never happened.

 

Ruby was digging a hole deeper and deeper that she wouldn’t be able to get out of easily.

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  So why Uchiura? Isn’t that like...the boonies compared to Tokyo?

 

Me:  Well, she said she wanted a change a pace.  Tokyo is hectic and it was exhausting her, so she moved to Uchiura for a more relaxed atmosphere.

 

Of course, Ruby had no idea if any of this was true, yet she couldn’t help but fantasize about the kind of person Riko would be.  Day after day, she would fabricate more and more of this personality of a person that she knew nothing about other than her name, profession, and hometown.  Worse yet, Ruby found herself  _ actually _ falling in love with her mind’s construct of “Riko Sakurauchi”.

 

Continuing this trend for nearly the whole week, Ruby felt better than she ever had.  Yoshiko was proud of her and Ruby really felt genuinely in love. Each made up conversation fed her fantasies of what it would be to talk to someone like Riko and it felt wonderful.

 

Until she finally realized what she had really been doing all along, and broke.

 

Me:  I’m so sorry.

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  It’s...okay. I know it’s hard for you to talk to people.  I shouldn’t have egged you on so much.

 

Me:  It’s not okay.  

 

Me:  I lied to you.

 

Ruby lay in her bed, curled into the fetal position, face inches from her dimly lit phone screen, crying her eyes out.

 

Me:  You’re my only real friend and I couldn’t even tell you the truth.  I’m sorry. 

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  I said it’s okay. I forgive you.  You couldn’t help it.

 

Me:  Even if you forgive me I don’t think I can forgive myself.  I feel terrible. 

 

Me:  What’s wrong with me???  

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Nothing.

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Nothing is wrong with you, Ruby.  None of this is your fault.

 

Me:  I 

 

Me:  I don’t know what to do…

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Just

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Try to get some rest.

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Please

 

…

 

Ruby opened her eyes slowly.  They were puffy and irritated from all the crying last night.  Her phone was still in her hand. Wiping the dried drool from her cheek, she unlocked her phone and saw that she fell asleep on Yoshiko.  The last text she got read, “You’re still a good person.”

 

Ruby teared up and cracked what she could of a smile and replied, “Thanks <3”.

 

Closing the messaging app, Ruby also noticed a missed call from Dia at 9:03AM.  Wait. What time was it now? 

 

10:12AM.

 

“I’M LATE FOR WORK!”

 

As if Ruby wasn’t already having a bad time, she arrived at work tired, hungry, and nearly an hour late.  Luckily, bosses at a flower shop aren’t the harshest, though that universal tone of disappointment always stings. 

 

As Ruby got into the rhythm of work, she couldn’t help but think about Riko.  The image of her pretty face made Ruby feel warm inside, yet it also reminded her of how horrible she felt for what she had been doing for the past week.  

 

Ruby decided that she wouldn’t let her own mistakes taint the thought of Riko.  Coming to a resolve in her mind, she decided to make things right and started arranging a bouquet of gardenias and gillyflowers.

 

…

 

“For Riko”, read the tag tied to the modest, yet beautiful arrangement Ruby had put together.  

 

All the way to the lounge, Ruby practiced the lines of what she would say to Riko.  Changing the wording here and there to make it sound at least kind of natural. Being honest with herself though, none of this could possibly feel natural to Ruby.  When she parked outside of the lounge and turned the engine off, she could hear her breath already shaking. Her heart was already beating faster and her fingers and toes were freezing, yet the rest of her body felt as if it was on fire.  

 

She thought back to some advice Yoshiko had given her a while back when she first told her about her anxiety.  She recited the steps to herself as she did each.

 

“Close your eyes.”

 

“In through the nose as slowly as possible.”

 

“Out through the mouth until there’s nothing left.”

 

“Repeat.”

 

After repeating this process for a few minutes, Ruby opened her eyes and returned to reality.  She still felt butterflies in her stomach, but at least her heart didn’t feel like it was about to explode.  

 

She grabbed the bouquet and got out of her car. 

 

Entering the lounge, Ruby tried to keep the flowers as low key as possible while making her way to an empty booth.  

 

Ruby took out her phone and messaged Yoshiko.

 

Me:  I’m doing it today.  I’m going to actually talk to her.

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Are you sure you’re up for this?  You don’t have to push yourself so hard…

 

Me:  I have to.  I’ll feel awful until I do.

 

Ruby quickly snapped a picture of the flowers and sent it to Yoshiko.

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Whoa...you’re really serious about this.

 

Me:  Yeah...Do you think I went to over board?? I just want to put something together with proper meaning.

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  I think it’s perfect!  Go get ‘em!

 

Me:  I’ll do my rubesty!

 

Yoshiko (Yohane):  Do you really still say that?

 

Me:  IT’S CUTE!

 

The banter with Yoshiko helped calm Ruby’s nerves a little more.  

 

Then the door opened.

 

In walked the beautiful Riko Sakurauchi wearing yet another breathtaking dress.  

 

Ruby’s heart began to beat faster again.  

 

Throughout all of Riko’s set, Ruby ran through the lines in her head again and again.  She wasn’t going to mess this up. 

 

Riko finished the last piece and Ruby immediately stood from the booth.  Picking up the bouquet, Ruby took a deep, very shaky, breath. 

 

She stepped forward with the flowers behind her back, but was distracted when the door opened again.  

 

In walked none other than Ruby’s big sister, Dia.  

 

What was she doing here?

 

Ruby stepped back and watched as Dia made her way over to the piano.

 

“Dia!”  Riko exclaimed excitedly as she smiled and stood from the piano bench.

 

_ She knows Dia?  Dia knows her? _

 

Ruby’s mind was running one hundred miles a minute trying to figure out what was going on until it all made sense.

 

Dia extended her arms towards Riko who did the same, pulling each other in for a quick embrace before pulling back and…

 

_ Kissing. _

 

Ruby felt all of the air leave her body.  She suddenly felt the urge to throw up. 

 

That was when Dia noticed Ruby.

 

“Ruby!  I’m glad I ran into here!  You never returned my call from this morning.  Were you at work already?”

 

“Y-yeah,”  was all Ruby could muster without bursting into tears.  

 

_ I need to leave. _

 

“I was going to let you know that I would be in town today visiting my new girlfriend, Riko!”

 

“Oh. T-that’s nice…”

 

_ I want to run away. _

 

“Yeah, we just started seeing each other not too long ago.  We actually met when she played at a lounge in Tokyo.”

 

“I-is that so?”  Ruby’s voice got quieter with each reply.

 

_ I can’t do this anymore. _

 

“Anyways we were about to-”

 

“That’s great!  But I’m really tired I’d better get going now, it was nice seeing you!”  Ruby cut Dia off, starting to walk backwards towards the door.

 

“Oh!  Okay, well I’ll call you later?”  Dia suggested with clear confusion on her face.

 

“Yeah, yeah!  Um I…I hope Riko’s as amazing as she seems!”

 

With that, Ruby turned and dashed out of the lounge.  

 

The second she exited the warmth of the lounge into the cold, dark night, tears were streaming down her face.  She ran as fast as she could to her car, throwing upper body onto the trunk where she laid her head and cried, slowly sinking down until her knees met the asphalt.  The tears wouldn’t stop. Ruby was crying so hard she couldn’t control her breathing and felt as if she was going to suffocate. 

 

Looking at the flowers through her tears, then at the lounge’s neon sign, Ruby stood up and dashed the bouquet to the ground.  Fumbling with the key, she unlocked the car, got in, and started the engine, sniffling and hiccuping throughout. 

 

She put the car in reverse and punched the gas.  She heard the crunch of the flowers underneath her tire, put the car in drive, and sped home.  

 

_ The scent of gardenias and gillyflowers linger still. _

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Sorry I had to do that to Ruby I had the idea and I couldn't help it... Anyways huge thanks to @Star_Trashinum for proofing and editing this! Yall should check out their stuff they will quench your rarepair thirst ;)


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